Lawbringer: A For Honor Story
by Poundtownbear
Summary: A prequel to the game storyline, Holden Cross realizes that the Blackstone Legion is planning to conquer Ashfeld. Instead of preparing for war, Holden's Warlord prepares a tournament to entertain his people and raise the prestige of his castle. With the help of his Second Warden, Lemus, Holden must balance the politics of his position as Lawbringer or join the rebel cause.
1. Chapter 1

Holden Cross stood tall among the peasants anxiously waiting for him to bring the axe of justice down on the neck of the man who was on his knees held by the knights of his Vanguard. Although Holden was six and half feet tall, the poleaxe towered over him at least another two feet and its gold plate and red jewels glimmered in the sunlight. His armor was stale and without color contrary to his weapon. Blades, hammers and axes had covered the steel in dents and blemishes. The face of a lion scowled on each of his shoulder plates.

The crowd had grown restless and began to shout obscenities at the man wanted for treason. Holden raised his hand and a silence fell over the potential mob. _Sheep, all of them_ , he thought.

"People of Ashfeld! Let this be a warning to those among us who wish to bring harm and chaos to our kingdom! This man, guilty of high treason, acted as messenger to the enemy. We are a peace with the Vikings. We are at peace with the samurai. These enemies are among us."

The became uneasy once again, looking left and right wondering who else may be plotting against them. Holden raised his hand once again.

"But we are a merciful people, not savages." He looked at the man awaiting his death. "Traitor, this is your chance to profess your sins and ask for mercy. If you refuse, let those words be your last."

"Yes, mercy! I beg for mercy! I am a traitor and see my wrongdoing in the faces of my brothers and sisters!" The crowd began to boo wildly and drown the man's words from being heard.

This time Holden raised the poleaxe far above his head: "Quiet!" Deafening silence succumbed the crowd. His attention brought back to the prisoner.

"Why should the people of Ashfeld grant you mercy?"

The man's eyes widened, "I have information! Names! Locations! Numbers!"

Thump!

An arrow now protruded ten inches from the prisoner's forehead, his eyes wide and mouth agape. The crowd stood in shock. Holden glanced the tree line at the end of the village when another arrow pierced the weak point of his armor between the shoulder and breast plate causing him to stagger back.

"Ambush!"

The peasants panicked as arrows began whiz over their heads toward the execution stage. Holden and his fellow knights scattered and jumped from the stage, taking cover wherever they could. Holden hid behind the village well as another knight slid next to him. He glanced in every direction to assess the situation of his Vanguard. _I hope we're not surrounded_.

"My Lord, you've been hit!" Braun, the knight next to him tried to address the arrow in his shoulder but he pushed his hands away. Instead, he snapped the stem of the arrow and threw it to the ground. _My men will not see me in pain_.

Holden grabbed the knight by the shoulder. "Braun, we need to close the distance on those archers! Tell the others on my command!"

"Yes, my Lord!" Braun turned around and with a burst of speed darted for the next pair of knights pinned down in cover. Holden watched him as a steel bolt impacted the knight's neck, severing his spine. Braun was dead before the limp steel of his body slammed against the ground.

"Crossbow..." Holden whispered to himself. _Deus vult, Braun._

"My Lord!" A peasant called to him from behind a grain barrel. "The trees, Sir! They're up in the trees!"

Holden risked his head from the side of the barrel, quickly glancing into the tree line. He's right. Bows and crossbows trained left to right across the open courtyard of the country village. He and his Vanguard were at a significant tactical disadvantage and the only ideas he had left were bad ideas.

Holden closed his eyes and with a deep breath, he ensured that his helm was snug to his head. He leaped from the safety of the well and began to sprint through the open kill zone, the point of his poleaxe charging forward towards the enemy. "For Ashfeld!"

The knights watched their commander run wildly into the heat of arrows as sparks deflected from his armor. Inspired by his battle cry, the knights charged from their positions screaming with all their lungs.

The Lawbringer ran to the nearest target, a young tree holding two well camouflaged archers. He was upon them before they could effectively react. With all his might, he impaled the trunk of the tree with the spear at the end of his poleaxe. The shear impact rocked the branches of the tree and the archers held on with all their strength for fear of having to meet Holden Cross on the ground.

"Ad mortem, inimicus!" Like a machine, as if his muscles could not yield, he began to push the tree from its foundations. Roots and dirt uplifted from the ground and the tree timbered into the hard earth with the archers still in its branches. One heard his femur snap cleanly into two pieces while the other suffered almost no injury. The uninjured archer crawled for his dagger among the fallen branches but it was too late. Holden left his axe impaling the tree trunk to grab the man by the head and lifted him to his feet. In one swift movement, the archers face met the armored kneecap of the Lawbringer, shattering his skull and allowing his brains to spill onto Holden's gigantic hands. The dead body fell to the feet of the non-ambulatory archer, inciting fear like he had never felt before. Holden did not pity the man with the broken leg as he tried to crawl away. He took his time to pull the axe from the tree and walked behind the crawling archer. Holden weighed the axe in his hands, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder. _No superstes_. The blade of the axe swung high over his head into the archer's shoulder blades, killing him instantly.

Breathing heavily, Holden ripped the axe out of the man's back. The orange and black decoration of the archer's cloak puzzled him. He quickly scanned the battle. His knights had done exactly what he knew they would do: follow him into the fight. Once his Vanguard had closed the gap, the enemy archers were useless. They had no problems cutting them down from their positions, but some managed to escape back into the woods. The armor of fallen knights shined in the dying light of the sunset.

The pain in Holden's shoulder was almost incapacitating. He knew he couldn't swing his poleaxe effectively with one arm and he was relieved that the skirmish was over. A knight ran to him in urgency.

"My Lord, are you well?"

"Yes, do not worry about me, Lemus. How many knights have fallen?" Holden replied.

The knight was no longer looking at his commander's injury, but instead, at the uprooted tree laying across the ground with a large hole in its trunk.

"Lemus, I asked you a question," Holden said to break the knights spell of awe.

"Uh, my Lord, five have fallen, deus vult..." Lemus uttered.

"They will not be dishonored. Prepare their bodies."

"Yes, my Lord. Also, there is one man left. He has climbed very high in a tree and will not come down even though we have surrounded him.

Holden and the knight met with the rest of the Vanguard surrounding a large tree. The other knights made way for to approach the base of the tree. The archers bow and quill lay scattered on the ground. Holden removed his helm and wiped his bald head with a cloth. He called to the archer.

"Soldier! Come down and we will spare your life!"

"Liar!" the archer replied.

Holden looked around at his fellow knights then up the tree again. "Fine. If I cannot question you on the ground, we can do it like this. Who are you?"

"I do not need a name for I am a Soldier of the Black Legion!"

 _Of course, that explains the orange and black. Someone is coming. Someone wants this land._

"Thank you Soldier of the Black Legion, that is all I needed." Holden Cross turned and began to walk back into the village.

"My Lord! What of the prisoner?" Lemus asked.

Holden stopped to give it a thought. "Burn the tree. He'll come down eventually."


	2. Chapter 2

The drawbridge that crossed the moat into the castle was old and battered. Thousands of boots and hooves had crossed the bridge before into battle and the wood creaked as Holden Cross' heavy frame of flesh and steel walked it.

"Now Arriving! Lord Cross, Lawbringer of the Iron Legion and Servant to the people of Ashfeld!" a guard called.

Servants and squires alike stopped their various duties to stare at the huge figure and his larger than life poleaxe. It wasn't every day that they would see the Lawbringer within the castle and not performing his deadly duties.

"Alright now, that's enough! Mind your own business!" The guard looked down to Holden. "Apologies, Lord Cross, don't know how to act do they?"

"Let them look," he replied. Holden removed his helm. "Notify Warlord Driver of my arrival."

A squire rushed to Holden's side to take his helm and poleaxe, but stumbled backwards as soon as Holden released his grip on the weapon. Another squire ran to help carry it and they struggled all the way to the armory.

The company of knights began to march across the bridge and business in the castle was suddenly back to usual. Lemus approached Holden as he watched the knights in review.

"Sir, you're going to need to get that wound checked out," Lemus said. "Looks like the arrowhead is still in there."

"I think you're right, Lemus, but these men will not see me in pain." Holden replied. He maintained his bearing until the last Soldier had passed.

"These men would rather see you alive."

Holden looked down to Lemus.

"I apologize, my Lord," Lemus said. "Maybe I can call for the apothecary to treat you in your private quarters?"

"That won't be necessary. I'll go to him. I have questions that can't wait to be answered." Holden began to walk off and then turned around suddenly. "Lemus, give me your sword and kneel."

"My Lord?"

"Do as I say."

Lemus handed his sword over and knelt before him.

"As you know, my Second fell today. An honorable Warden, like you, Lemus. He must be replaced." Holden laid the blade across Lemus' shoulder. "I anoint you, Lemus, as my Second to carry my legacy should I fall on the field of honor. Do you accept this responsibility?"

"I do, my Lord."

Holden reached for Lemus' hand and helped him to his feet.

"Good. And the first rule of being Second is that you stop calling me Lord."

Lemus smiled and said "Yes, my- I mean, Holden. Old habits die hard."

"They do. Now, let's get this blood off me and be ready to accompany me to see Warlord Driver. He will want to hear about today's execution."

The two large doors that led to Warlord Driver's chambers croaked open and a servant man passed through them. Holden and Lemus followed were changed out of their armor into a cloak and Holden's hid the bandages on his shoulder. Even without his armor, he dwarfed the servant man.

"Warlord Driver, Holden Cross and his Second-" The servant looked back at them.

"It's Lemus," he said.

"Yes... Lemus. They have a report for today's events."

"Ah, yes, of course Holden! And you bring a new Second? And what of-"

"Fallen," Holden replied.

"Fallen... with honor, I'm sure." Warlord Driver had once served as a Warden, but now a Warlord of a castle in the Iron Legion. He had grown comfortable as Warlord and, in the self-perceived peacetime of his land, dreamed of the days when kings ruled from a throne and in luxury. His red and gold trimmed cloak complimented his dark black beard. He was in no condition to lead a charge into battle, but it wasn't as if he needed to.

"Can I assume today's execution did not go well?"

"That's right, Warlord," Holden replied. "But the prisoner did die. He was going to give us information about what type of rebels we are dealing with when an arrow split his head in two."

"I see. So you were being watched? Ambush, I suppose."

"Correct again, Warlord. We lost a few knights, including my Second."

"Well, the prisoner was executed and you won the battle. Water under the bridge in my eyes. We should celebrate our fallen warriors with wine." He motioned for the servant.

"Warlord, there was one man alive at the end. Caught in a tree without a weapon and he claimed to be a Soldier of-"

"Holden, please. Like I said, the fight is won. Let's look to the future like the tournament I hope you've been training for!" the Warlord said.

Holden looked at Lemus with lowered eyebrows as if he had been keeping a secret from him.

"A tournament? We have rebel Knights and soldiers attacking the Iron Legion publicly and you're holding a tournament?"

"Oh, had no one told you about the tournament?" He began to poor a healthy glass of wine. "I wouldn't mention it to you either, especially if I thought I would have to duel you." He sipped his wine. "You will be participating in the tournament, won't you?"

Holden took a moment to answer.

"As you wish, Warlord. I just don't feel this a good time-"

"It's always a good time for a tournament, Holden. And for the record, your feelings are not required." The Warlord tipped the glass of wine back. "You are dismissed if you have nothing else to report."

Holden and Lemus both bowed their heads in unison before turning around and walking through the doors they came in.

"Holden, one more thing." Warlord Driver said. "Have you finally named that wretched poleaxe of yours?"

Holden stopped and turned.

"The Long Arm."


	3. Chapter 3

Lemus agreed with Holden that this wasn't the time for a tournament, but that didn't stop him from wanting to compete in it. Tournaments were a great honor in Ashfeld even if you didn't win. But, if you did win, you were a legend in the eyes of the people.

Lemus shook the fantasy of the tournament from his head as he opened his new chamber door connected to the barracks within the castle. It was going to take a while to get used to being Second to Holden Cross.

After he closed the door behind him, he squinted to assess the room of the man he replaced as the only source of light came from the moon through the only window. Clothes, blankets, and paper were scattered everywhere throughout the room. He looked quickly for a candle but they were knocked over and wax had spilled over onto the floor. _Someone was here looking for something._

He finally found a good candle and just as he had it lit, a dagger whizzed by his hands, cutting the candle in half and sparking as it stuck into the stone wall next to him. Without a second thought, he grabbed the handle of the dagger and threw it through the dark in the direction it came from. A Peacekeeper stood in the moonlight of the window, her blonde braided hair draping over shoulder from under her dark hood. Her helm hid her face completely. She slowly pulled the dagger from the wall next to her head.

"You're gonna have to throw better than that, Warden," she said.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Lemus asked.

"I'm here to kill someone," she replied, quietly unsheathing her short sword. "But you don't look too much like a Lawbringer."

"I am Lemus, Second to Lawbringer Holden Cross and this is as close as you will get to him." Lemus' sword was now at the ready, but he chose to not wear his helm. He knew the Peacekeeper had the advantage in the darkened room.

"Hmm, second just won't do."

The Peacekeeper suddenly lunged forward at Lemus, short sword and dagger in each hand. She swung the short sword top heavy at Lemus' exposed head but was quickly parried sending her weight to her right. She took advantage of this shift, swinging wide with her left arm and the point of her dagger sent bright yellow sparks across the room as it dragged against his armor.

She rolled forward and away from the Warden in anticipation of his counterattack. She felt his sword tug and rip the cloth of her cloak as it barely missed her body. It was his second counterattack that she did not anticipate.

As she stood up and twisted into her ready stance, Lemus' shoulder plowed into her chest sending her into the stone wall behind her. The back of her helm whiplashed into the stone immediately after, causing stars to fly in front of her eyes as she tried to think straight.

Lemus took a step backwards to build the momentum of a killing blow that would slice cleanly through the Peacekeepers neck. The blade swung from right to left and he saw her body slide down to the wall into a sitting position, but he hadn't felt the resistance of flesh against the blade.

 _Shit._

The Peacekeeper's dagger found the break of his armor right above his knee. Pain seemed to shoot through his entire body as he staggered backwards limping. Still dazed, the Peacekeeper found her footing, short sword at the ready.

"Bleed, Warden."

Lemus pulled the dagger from his thigh and felt the blood gush inside his armor and down his leg. _Maybe I should have left it in. Too late now._ He tossed the dagger through the window behind him. The echo of its fall disturbed the silence in the courtyard below.

"Bastard..." she mumbled.

"I figured you needed that."

She lunged once again, their swords meeting midair, but deflected to the side by the Peacekeeper. Without her dagger to capitalize on the deflection, she was forced to retreat a few feet back, but the Warden was already upon her. He swung wildly from both sides and vertically, the Peacekeeper's short sword struggled to go toe-to-toe with the longsword. Finally, she lost her grip on the sword's hilt and it soared across the room under the window.

The flat side of Lemus' longsword impacted the side of the Peacekeeper's helm almost completely knocking her unconscious. Her limp body laid out across the floor. _We could use her alive._

Lemus grabbed the Peacekeeper at the throat of her leather armor and lifted her to her feet. He laid the blade of his longsword across his forearm only inches from her neck. He shook her back into consciousness.

"I'm going ask you one more time, Peacekeeper... Who are you?"

She mumbled under her helm and Lemus shook her again so that she could realize the grave danger she was in.

"Mercy..." she whispered.

"You sneak into this castle to commit treason and you expect mercy? You're as stupid as I thought you were. Holden Cross-"

A sudden burst of bright white light and smoke filled the room. Lemus was sent to the ground blinded and his nostrils burned from the flash grenade the Peacekeeper set off from her belt. Without his helm on, he felt the full force of the non-lethal grenade. The ringing in his ears was louder than anything he had ever heard before.

He fought through the temporary pain and crawled on the floor reaching every which way for his longsword. He finally felt the blade under his armored hands and he stood up as fast as he awkwardly could. His sight struggled to return and he yelled as loudly as he could out of frustration as he lazily swung his longsword all over and across the room.

The moonlight finally lit the room around him, although dimly. He scanned the area but there was no trace of the Peacekeeper. He noticed the short sword missing from against the wall. He limped to the window realizing it was her only realistic option of escape. As he leaned through it he scanned the courtyard noticing the moonlight created various shadows in the night to aide her escape. He looked for the dagger below him, but it too was gone. _Dammit!_

The door to his chambers suddenly burst open as two Soldiers accompanied by Holden Cross entered the room ready for a fight. Holden took a moment to assess the situation before Lemus could speak.

"What the hell happened, Lemus?"

Lemus dropped his longsword and sat on his new bed, catching his breath before speaking.

"A Peacekeeper... was here... tried to... kill you," Lemus said.

"Tried to kill me? In your room?"

"Looking for... you... fought her... flash banged me."

"That explains the sound. We thought there was an explosion." Holden noticed the blood running from Lemus' leg. "Get a doctor up here for the Second now!"

The two Soldiers left the room with a purpose and Holden shut the door behind them.

"Well, Lemus, I'm glad you're not dead."

"Might as well be, I need my leg you know."

A rare smile formed on Holden's face.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Holden began to light as many candles as he could find. "Now, I know you're in pain, but what can you tell me about this Peacekeeper?"

"She's smart. I thought I had her beat until the flash went off."

"Peacekeepers tend to be smart, especially when they're desperate. She jump out that window?"

"She must have. I threw her dagger out into the courtyard and now it's gone."

Holden Cross walked toward the window when he noticed a torn piece of a cloth on the floor. He reached down and picked it up. An orange and black sword dividing a skull and helm flickered across the cloth in the candlelight.

"Blackstone Legion..."

"Of course," Lemus said. "By the way, Holden, I want a new room."


	4. Chapter 4

The moon shot beams of white light through the trees of the forest that surrounded the castle of Warlord Driver. Mercy's legs were on the verge of failure as she slowed down to rest near a tree off the trail she made her escape on. Her leather armor scraped against the bark of the tree as she slid down it to the ground. She was certain no one followed her, let alone see her leave or enter the castle. Her breathing was still heavy and the blood of her open wounds trickled down her body. _Damn Warden._

She listened to her surroundings for a moment just to make sure she hadn't missed something. It was peaceful this far into the forest and the wind swayed the treetops above her like a ship sailing through the ocean. Calmness had overcome her and she wanted to sleep right there in the forest, but she knew she had to keep moving. She dressed her wounds quickly and sloppy, just enough to get her through the night. She lifted herself up with the help of the tree and began making her way down the trail deeper into the forest.

It would take her all night to make it to the encampment. The trail was wide enough to fit two horses side by side with riders, but rough enough to divert merchants and travelers to another route. Eventually, she would have to leave the trail to make it to the camp. Until then, a horse would be a god send.

A man laughing in the distance pierced through the silent forest and echoed against the bark of the trees. Mercy hopped off the trail and listened. There was more than one man and maybe a horse or two. Mercy began to creep forward to gather what she could. A small fire flickered in the dark forest and the drunken laughing continued.

"Ay, you can't be serious, he couldn't been no eight feet tall!" said the man lying on the ground against a tree.

"He was, I swear! But he went down like a ton a bricks, I tell ya," said the other man.

"Your lies are as bad as your jokes!"

"Fine then, don't believe me, ain't a hair off my ass."

The man telling his story laid down on the other side of the fire. Mercy heard the scuffle of a horse as she crept up to the makeshift campsite in the darkness. It was tied to a tree nibbling on something. It was more than likely tired and had been walking all day. _I need that horse…_ She stayed in the darkness. The two men had swords and a crossbow laid on the pack attached to the horse. They laid across the fire from each other and to kill both quickly would be tricky. She began to slide her dagger from its sheath.

"How far ya think them Blackstone's are anyway?"

Mercy perked up to listen more closely at the mention of the Blackstone Legion, her blade halfway ready.

"I reckon ten miles. Hard to tell ya know. We get there when we get there."

"What do ya got anyway? And why would they want to see you? You don't know if they even exist!"

"What? Of course I know they exist! Why else would I be troubling myself with this?"

"Ya troubling me too, ya know!"

"To get you a piece of the pie! If you don't like it, hop off then!"

The man asking the questions stared blankly at the obvious leader of the two. He was willing to reap any kind of benefit that might turn his fortunes around.

"Ya still ain't tell me what ya got." He finally said.

The other man pointed to his head, "I got this."

"Ya got your head?"

"No, dimwit, I have information! Things them Blackstone's want to know."

"Ha! What could ya possibly know that they don't already! So I'm following ya so you can go and tell 'em some secrets now? So what kind of secrets ya got? Go on then!" The man turned over on his stomach laughing and reached for the bottle of wine cozied in his satchel. He turned back gulping the bitter wine and froze.

Mercy had her hand over the mouth of the other man and her dagger pressing the skin of his throat.

"Yes, go on and tell us what you know." Mercy's voice was calm and sensual as if everything was going to be alright.

Mercy slipped her hand from his mouth to his forehead to maintain control of his neck. The man trembled despite making every effort to speak. Mercy lowered her voice to a whisper.

"You know, if you don't have anything to say, you're useless to me. What do you think I do to people who are useless to me?" she said.

"I—I—Know that Holden Cross will be competing in a—a—tournament!"

"Oh, you're going to have to do better than that." She said again in a whisper.

"Um—um—Warlord Driver is a drunk, he is, and has no idea that the Blackstone Legion is coming. Instead, he is holding an open tournament and indulges in the pleasure of the flesh while his enemies march on him."

"This information doesn't seem very secret," she pressed the blade harder against his neck. "Tell me what you actually know before I put out this fire with the blood spurting from your neck."

"Ok, ok, please just don't kill me! Warlord Driver has a secret entrance that he uses to let his whores in and out of his chambers. It's meant for his escape, but of course, he can't help himself to misuse it. A woman like ya would have no issue getting in there."

"Where's the entrance?" she asked.

The man sitting in silence across the fire kept his eyes fixed on Mercy. He slowly crept his hand across the dirt to reach for his crossbow.

"In the kitchen of the Main Hall. The pantry closet has a door in it. Leads right to a stairwell."

"That's better. Where do these… women, if you can call them that, come from?"

"I'm not sure, but I can find out for ya if you let me go!" he said. He looked at his friend across the fire and encouraged him to grab the crossbow with his eyes.

"How would I be able to trust you?" she asked.

"Ya can't, honestly."

The man across the fire snapped the crossbow to the ready and fired the bolt directly at Mercy's head. Instead, Mercy had adjusted her human shield to take the bolt between the eyes and lodge almost completely into his brain. The back of his head exploded onto the tree behind them. Before the man holding the crossbow could realize what he had done, Mercy threw her dagger from two fingers and pierced his neck squarely in the throat. His body fell straight back and made a loud thump against the hard dirt. The horse attempting to sleep for the night screeched and jumped on its back legs. Mercy quickly searched the men for anything useful, but didn't find much besides a few coins. _At least I found a horse._

She began to calm it down and strap the saddle to its back. She reflected on the information the man gave her and realized she is luckier than she thought she was. Apollyon could very well still kill her for failing her mission to assassinate Holden Cross. But having a direct way to Warlord Driver could keep her alive to prove herself.


End file.
